National Two Front Runners

 We are now getting to the business end of the season and the title race is starting to carry a bit of pace. Talking Rugby Union takes a look at who is in the hunt for silverware and promotion this season in both National Two leagues.

National Two South

There has been a team which has led from the earlier stages of this season and that is Henley Hawks. They won their first 14 games of the campaign and looked unstoppable, but were finally beaten by Worthing Raiders in December. They then had a little wobble losing three matches in four weeks, but ended January strongly with three straight wins. Currently, they sit top of this division by nine points and are still firm favourites for the league title.

Second place Dorking must have thought their luck was in when Henley stuttered, but they failed to captalise on the opportunities that were presented to them. They were beaten by Worthing and Chinnor around the same period of time Henley entered their bad run of form and also they only managed a draw away at the Cornish All Blacks. This leaves them with still an awful lot to do to win the title, but they do have a game in hand at the end of this month against Southend to try and reduce the gap at the top of the table.

The other sides in the top four are Taunton and Chinnor who are eight and 12 points behind Dorking respectively. For me, it will take something special for one of them to sneak into the promotion places. It is also probably slightly too late for fifth placed Worthing to mount a promotion challenge with them having won five of their last six matches making them the in-form side in the league. But as they say, anything can happen.... 

Round 21 Results

Redruth 8-5 Taunton - Redruth picked up eighth home win of the season

Dorking 16-15 Cambridge- Dorking unbeaten in last three.

Shelford 8-0 Canterbury - Shelford's first win four matches. Huge victory in fight for survival

Chinnor 24-12 Cornish All Blacks - Chinnor closed gap on Taunton to four points with this win.

Dings Crusaders 6-25 Old Elthamains - Old E's make it back to back wins for the first time since December

Henley 32-17 Clifton - Henley maintain 100 per cent home record and ended Clifton's three game winning run

Lydney 25-20 Southend Saxons - Huge win for Lydney against an in-form Southend side.

Bishop's Stortford P-P Worthing Raiders.

Round 22 Fixtures

Old Elthamians v Henley

Worthing Raiders v Southend Saxons

Cambridge v Chinnor

Cornish All Blacks v Lydney

Bishop's Stortford v Redruth

Clifton v Dorking

Cantervury v Dings Crusaders

Taunton Titans v Shelford

 

National Two North

Before last weekend, I would have put my money on Hull Ionians to win National Two North. They won the 'title-decider' against Ampthill and District and seemed in complete control of this title race. However, their grip on the trophy certainly loosened on Saturday as Sedgley Park produced a superb performance to beat the league leaders at Park Lane. Ampthill then did their job at home to Chester meaning the Milton Keynes based side go back to the summit of the league and have a three point lead. Hull Ionians would still consider themselves in the driving seat for automatic promotion to National One as they have a game in hand over Ampthill away at bottom club Stockport. 

It looks certain that it will be Hull Ionians and Ampthill who will battle it out for promotion as third placed Chester are 19 points behind Hull Ionians. Fourth place Harrogate do have two games in hand though against Broadstreet and Stockport and are also 19 points behind Hull Ionains. I still think it is too much to ask for the Yorkshire side to challenge the top two.

Round 21 Results

Ampthill and District 28-23 Chester - Ampthill went top by three points after this win.

Birmingham and Solihull 10-24 Preston Grasshoppers- Preston have won three of their last four matches.

Broadstreet 32-6 Luctonians -Broadstreet returned to winning ways after a week off.

Caldy 41-21 Leicester Lions- Much needed win for Caldy after shaky start to 2015.

Hull 15-31 Huddersfield- Huddersfield ended January with five wins from five. They are the form side in the division.

Otley 18-12 Stourbridge- Big win for Otley as Stourbridge continue to get stronger.

Sedgley Park 38-5 Hull Ionians- The I's slip to second in the table after Sedgley pull of superb win.

Stockport P-P Harrogate- Second week in a row Harrogate’s game was postponed.

Round 22 Fixtures

Caldy v Hull

Chester v Sedgley Park

Harrogate v Ampthill and District

Huddersfield v Otley

Hull Ionians v Birmingham and Solihull

Leicester Lions v Preston Grasshoppers

Luctonians v Stockport

Stourbridge v Broadstreet